Nightmare Nights

It was a later night viewing of "A Nightmare on Elm Street" (1984), my first since 2012, quite a dry spell since I last immersed myself in the nightmare world of "Fred Krueger, mom, Fred Krueger!"

I had always planned this year to revisit the Freddy series, even considering the summer as an option. I'm glad it's been a while so I can return to the series without the fatigue I might have had ten years earlier. This series was very much a present visitor in my youth. The distance of eight years was a decision that I hope either brings greater appreciation or at least allows me to not feel so burned out. I've already cleared the first eight Friday films and six Halloween films, purposely waiting on the Freddy films until the summer. I think this was the right choice. I had a good time late Wednesday evening into early Thursday morning.

I actually watched the first film Wednesday night in tribute to John Saxon, but I seemed to remember him being in "A Nightmare Elm Street" more than he actually is. It feels like Wes Craven might have hired him for only a few days work. He's a cop again, the big kahuna at the small town sheriff's department unable to keep the teenage friends of his daughter safe. He's rarely home and clearly estranged from his miserable, boozing, often aloof and distanced wife while his daughter, a strong and resilient young woman, is quite stubborn when it comes to just folding her tent and cow-towing to Fred Krueger. 

Saxon's most famous scenes involve arriving after Fred kills teens, such as when Glen is sucked into his bed as a waterfall of blood gushes like a geyser into the ceiling of his room with the coroner so disgusted he was puking in the john since he saw it or Rod hanging from a sheet noose until the snap of his neck while being held in jail for the possible murder of girlfriend Tina.

Saxon, much like in "Black Christmas", never actually encounters the killer. He's got no reason to believe some nightmare man did it. Some child killer burned alive by disgruntled parents when the law wasn't there to mete out proper justice. He has to sell a weird moment when the burned remains of his wife sink into her bed and vanishes. He's always too late.

I won't be putting off future viewings of this film. It's got plenty of flaws and the story is a bit clunky, especially the ending which feels confused, as if Craven wasn't quite sure how to end the film.

This is loaded with great moments that I identified back in 2012, such as Tina in the body bag calling out to Nancy, her body on the high school floor being dragged off, Tina's murder, Glen's blood waterfall bed death, Fred reaching out his extending arms to Tina, the mouthy phone with tongue, quicksand stairs, Nancy's declining no-sleep mental health, the boiler room and finger knives screeching down metal, the iconic opening sequence where Fred builds his mask within a letterbox intro, and Fred chasing after Tina and Nancy. Not to mention seeing Lin Shaye as a teacher, a hall monitor Fred talks through, and Nancy awakening from a sleep study with Fred's hat and a gash on her arm, while also still nursing a burn. Fred spying on Nancy by "bending" Tina's bedroom wall, cutting off a finger and slicing open his side, even gutting Tina, always with relish, the film really still delivers a hell of a lot. I won't be a stranger to the film as I have been.